Home Fires
by Frost Deejn
Summary: After Wanda escapes from the Raft, Vision fears he'll never see her again. Hiding out in Europe, Wanda is plagued with guilt over using her power against Vision. This is how they find each other, and what happens when they do.
1. Scorched Earth

_**Home Fires**_

Disclaimer: Disclaimed

Chronology: Begins after the events of _Captain America: Civil War._

Chapter 1: Scorched Earth

Tony found Vision floating in front of a window at the Avengers compound. He often did that. He'd spend hours just watching the world with the appearance of complete serenity, and seemingly no capacity for boredom.

Except he didn't look serene now. He looked troubled.

"Mr. Stark," Vision said in greeting, acknowledging his presence without turning away from the window.

"I just heard there was a break-in at the floating prison. It was Cap. Wanda, Sam, Clint, and that guy who can change his size have all escaped."

Vision slowly turned toward him. "Was anyone harmed?"

"No. Cap used some kind of sedative to knock the guards out."

He nodded. "Good."

"You're happy they escaped?" Tony asked, suspecting the answer already but surprised by the blatant admission.

"Captain Rogers and the others were acting in the interest of protecting the world, in accordance with their best information. They did not deserve to be imprisoned for it."

"We were acting on our best info too."

"Yes. This was a conflict in which both sides were right."

"Were you thinking of breaking them out yourself?"

Vision looked away, considering his answer for a moment. "I had not been able to devise a plan that would avoid the possibility of casualties."

"But you were thinking about it?"

"Yes," he admitted. "Weren't you?"

"I was looking into legal avenues to get them out. But if that hadn't worked, yeah. They didn't belong in there. But I am glad it was Cap and not you."

Vision's response was a slight nod, unconvincing.

"You don't agree?" Tony asked.

"It should not have been his responsibility. I promised Wanda we would protect her. I failed her."

"You tried," Tony reminded him. "You ended up at the bottom of a hole in the floor."

"I should not have attempted to detain her against her will."

"That was the only way to protect her from any more bad press."

"I should have spoken to her. I knew she was conflicted about the accords. I should have encouraged her to talk about it, perhaps convinced her that signing the accords would be in our best interest. But I didn't wish to upset her further, so we avoided the subject. If I had not..."

"I didn't think you were the kind of person who gets caught up on what he could've done differently."

"Perhaps I am not as infallible as people seem to believe," Vision said, and Tony had the impression he was thinking of something else.

This was a mood he'd never seen Vision in. It made him reflect on the differences between Vision and the J.A.R.V.I.S. program. He'd programmed J.A.R.V.I.S. to be good-natured but aloof, with a dry wit. Over the years, J.A.R.V.I.S.'s adaptive programming had produced personality traits he hadn't originally intended, and he'd often wondered how self-aware the artificial intelligence had become. Vision was different. He had J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice, intellect, and memories, but the differences in personality were clear. Vision lacked J.A.R.V.I.S.'s sense of humor, and had a philosophical bent and a solemnity that the A.I. hadn't.

And J.A.R.V.I.S. had never developed a crush. Vision's focus on Wanda, the fervor with which he'd promised they would protect her, the near delight he'd exhibited when Tony had asked him to stay with Wanda at the compound, and the forlorn tone of his voice when he'd called to inform him that she'd left with Clint all pointed to the android having particular feelings for her.

"Wanda made her own choice. It's not your fault."

"What happened to Colonel Rhodes is."

Tony looked away. "Yeah. But... Friendly fire. It happens. You were busy making sure Wanda was okay."

"In regards to her, my priorities may be skewed," Vision confessed. "I believe I'm in love with her. And now I may never see her again."

* * *

There were tear stains on her left cheek.

Steve hadn't seen them in the dim light of the Raft, after he'd broken into it to free the unjustly imprisoned. He could tell they weren't fresh. They streaked her left cheek in roughly horizontal lines, indicating the tears had fallen while she'd been lying down, and she'd been sitting up the entire flight in the borrowed Wakandan stealth jet.

Her face was wan, her eyes distant.

"You should try to get some sleep," he said. "It will be a while before we get there."

"Get where?"

He could tell from her tone that she wasn't expecting an answer.

They'd all agreed it would be safer to split up for the time being. They'd dropped Scott Lang off in California, where he'd assured them he could hide out. Clint, master spy that he was, had a contingency for exactly this sort of situation: a safe house and false IDs for his entire family in Canada. Sam and Wanda had agreed to wait for Steve at a safe house in Europe while he ran a vague errand: going to Wakanda to return the jet and check in with Bucky.

He hadn't told them where the safe house was, but he knew that wasn't what Wanda meant. She meant after that.

The Avengers compound had been her home for a year, and before that she'd lived in a cell at a Hydra lab. Before that, a slum in Sokovia that had been destroyed by Ultron. She had nowhere to go.

He sat down across from her. She'd sacrificed the only home she had, the only family she had, to help him save his friend. He had no way to make that up to her.

Not that she expected him to. He could see it in her expression, a blend of resignation and determination, and that the tear streaks weren't fresh.

He recalled a day, a few weeks after Wanda had joined the Avengers, when he'd paid her a visit in her apartment to see how she was settling in.

 _"Come in."_

 _He'd opened the door to find her sitting on her sofa, tears streaming down her face, an hourglass on her coffee table._

 _She stood up quickly. "Captain Rogers. I didn't know it was you." She made no effort to hide her tears._

 _"I told you to call me Steve. Are you okay?"_

" _Yes. It's just my hour to mourn."_

" _Your hour to mourn?"_

 _She gestured to the hourglass, sand pouring through it. "I give myself an hour a day to mourn for my brother. I don't let myself think about it the rest of the time."_

 _He'd wondered about that, about how focused she was during trainings, how she avoided talking about Pietro in her conversations with the team._

 _"So you just sit and think about him for an hour every day?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"How long are you going to do it for?" he'd asked curiously._

 _"For as long as I need it. When my mind starts wandering to other things during that hour, I'll cut it down to half an hour. Then I'll go down some more, maybe someday to ten minutes. Pietro and I came up with this after our parents died, because no matter how much you hurt, you need to find a way to keep going."_

 _"I understand," he said. "I lost my parents too. And my best friend, who was as close to me as a brother. I watched him fall to what I thought was his death. He'd risked his life to protect me. I understand how it feels to lose someone."_

 _"It feels like it should kill you. Like your body could not possibly survive that much pain. But you find a way to make it through a day, and then another day and another day, and you survive. The sad doesn't really get less, but after a while it hits you less hard and less often."_

Her cell in the Raft had been her hour of mourning; now she was focused on dealing with whatever would come next. But Steve had to wonder just how many hits one person could take.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this," he said.

"You didn't drag me. But thank you for being sorry."

She kept staring out the window. He wanted to ask if she was okay, but being okay after what they'd just been through was too much to ask from anyone.

"I know what you gave up to be on my side. I'm not going to forget that," he said, because he had to say something.

She continued staring out the window, at the near pitch dark of the night, and when she spoke it sounded like she was talking to herself. "When Clint came to get me, I almost didn't go with him. Do you know why I did?"

"It wasn't fair to keep you locked up. What happened in Lagos was a tragic accident; you didn't deserve to be punished for it."

"I didn't want to sign the accords. Not the way they were written. The _Sokovia_ Accords. Named after my homeland. And yes, _I_ was partly responsible for that destruction, because _I_ was partly responsible for Ultron, because _I_ helped him, but that was when I was fighting against the Avengers. We saved _everyone_ that we possibly could in Sokovia. We saved the world, and they blame us for not saving everyone. We risked our lives to save as many people as we could. Pietro _gave_ his life to save two people. Two. My brother died, and they say it wasn't enough." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"The accords were wrong."

"But so were we," Wanda said. "We fought our friends for what turned out to all be a trick. This was a fight where both sides were wrong. I don't think I deserved to be locked up for the accident in Lagos, but I shouldn't have left. I shouldn't have done that to Vision."

"He shouldn't have helped keep you locked up." The injustice of what had been done to her still burned, and he had been surprised that Vision would have any part of it.

"It wasn't like that," she said. "Vision was trying to protect me."

"You don't protect people by locking them up."

She looked back out the window sharply. She took another deep breath, ragged with swallowed tears. "There is being in physical danger, and then there's feeling like the whole world is turning against you."

"I know that feeling," Steve said. "That's what it was like when S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted me dead."

"And when that happened, there was one person by your side, one person who believed in you."

"Yeah. Nat. I don't know what I would have done without her."

"Vision was that for me. He made me feel like...like whatever happened, I wouldn't face it alone. He would never turn against me. And then I turned on him."

She sounded so miserable about it. Steve knew that Vision had been her first friend on the team. She'd gravitated toward him from the start. Maybe it was partly because they were both new, but Steve thought it was more than that. In contrast to the rest of them, Vision had a serious nature: he didn't tease, he didn't joke, he didn't trivialize the risks they took. He neither avoided talking about Wanda's past with Ultron nor held it against her. For whatever reason, he'd been exactly what she needed during that difficult period, and their closeness had persisted even after they'd adjusted and integrated with the rest of the team.

"He's Vision; he's not going to hold a grudge," Steve assured her.

She shook her head, not negating what he said, but denying its relevance. "With my power, people are afraid of me. Viz wasn't. But after what I did to him, I don't think that's true anymore. I don't think it can ever be true again."


	2. Flare

Chapter 2: Flare

The strange structure in Antarctica the U.N. had sent the Avengers to investigate turned out to be an old Hydra base. It had been abandoned for years. They'd found diagrams for experimental weapons and the grisly remains of hybridization experiments. It appeared the base had been abruptly locked down when some of those experiments had escaped, but they only had skeletons to reconstruct the sequence of events with.

What had troubled Vision more than the remains had been the experiments themselved. His mind had involuntarily drifted to Wanda, to thoughts of what horrors had been visited upon her at the hands of Hydra.

It had been one hundred and sixteen days since the escape from the Raft. Vision still thought about Wanda every day. He wondered if she was safe. He hoped she was happy.

In the meantime, the remaining Avengers had missions to occupy them, and training nearly every day they didn't have a mission. The trainings were always somber for Vision; the team never felt whole.

Having just returned from a mission, there was no training today. Vision usually filled his downtime with reading, researching, staring out windows, contemplating the world, flying through clouds and over various countrysides, and occasionally shutting down to allow his vibranium-cellular matrix to realign.

He was in his room reading a book of poetry when there was a knock on his door.

"Come in," he said.

Tony entered. "Hey."

"Mr. Stark, I'm surprised to see you. After our mission, I would have expected you would want to rest."

"Yeah. Something came up." He took out his phone and projected an image of smoke rising from a collapsed building. "F.R.I.D.A.Y. just alerted me to a fire at an old apartment building in Cottbus, Germany. There were eighteen people in the building at the time. Miraculously, firefighters were able to get everyone out alive right before the building collapsed. Some eyewitnesses report a whirlwind that extinguished the fire on the first floor, clearing the way to evacuate the building, and a red glow around the walls."

Vision rose slowly. His book forgotten. "She was there."

"Maybe. The firefighters didn't report anything unusual. But one of us should check it out, just in case."

* * *

"Cappuccino for Verena?"

Wanda was still getting used to her latest alias. She realized this was the second time the barista had called it.

"Thank you," she said as she took her coffee and sat back at her table.

She liked going to a coffee shop after work. She tried not to go to the same coffee shop more than once every couple of weeks; Natasha had warned her against falling into predictable patterns.

It was snowing. The snow was not so much falling as drifting lazily through the air in a generally earthward manner. She watched it as she sipped her coffee. But a conversation behind her suddenly grabbed her attention.

"An Avenger here in our own city. I wouldn't have believed it, but I saw the videos."

"What would the Avengers be doing here? Nothing ever happpens here."

Wanda downed the rest of her coffee, pulled on her coat, tugging the hood tight to conceal her face, and left quickly.

Had she been seen at the fire that morning? She knew it had been a risk. If she'd been identified, she'd need to leave the city, move on to the next hideout.

At the nearest library she did a search online for Avenger sightings in Cottbus. Several videos had been posted, none earlier than mid-afternoon. She watched the one that had the most views.

She recognized the street. It wasn't far from where the fire had been. Her pulse quickened.

It was Vision, floating several meters above the crowd, turning in a slow circle, then rising and floating away. He was clearly looking for something.

He was looking for her.

She should probably leave the city, or lay low for a while, she thought to herself even as she made her way to the roof of the library building. The door to the rooftop was locked, but with her power turning a standard lock was about as easy as turning a handle.

Powdery snow a few inches deep covered the flat roof. The clouds were a dark gray-blue except for a pink glow in the west. She stood at the edge of the roof looking out over the city.

She didn't see him.

Was Vision still here? Was he here alone, or were there others looking for her?

She shouldn't risk it. She was a wanted fugitive; his job was to apprehend her. She never wanted to spend another day in a cell as long as she lived.

But the way he'd held her after the battle at the airport, the way he'd looked at her... She couldn't forget that. She couldn't believe he would truly try to arrest her. Especially since he knew she would fight him if he tried. Besides, he was probably already gone.

She hated that thought. She wanted to see him so much it hurt.

She took a deep breath, stretched out her fingers, and entered the world of her power. It almost felt like slipping on gloves, but gloves made of energy tied by threads to everything around her. She could feel the threads, feel the strings of matter and mind. She could pluck them, play them, move the world around her. Her mind. Her matter.

Her fingers twitched, tugged the ether. She grasped the snow, danced it into the air, reaching toward the sky. She'd missed this: exercising her powers, focusing her mind on something complex and challenging.

The snow swirled into the air, glowing toward the sky, a beacon that might summon her heart's desire, or disappointment, or doom.


	3. Will-o'-the-Wisp

Chapter 3: Will-o'-the-Wisp

It was growing dark.

He wasn't sure how long he intended to keep up the search. Another day or two, perhaps. Tony's A.I. program was monitoring security cameras in the city with facial recognition software, but the high false positive rate rendered that method less than reliable. Already it had sent Vision two leads that had proven dead ends, women who closely resembled Wanda, but were not her.

In a way, finding her was not the true purpose of looking for her; if any other agencies connected what had happened at the fire that morning with one of the fugitive Avengers, Tony would be able to assure them that they were handling it themselves, pointing to Vision's presence as evidence.

But that wasn't Vision's purpose. As small as the chance of finding her was, there was still a chance.

He rose above the city, looking for a concentration of people, traffic, or neon lights that might point him in the direction of a new place to search, some place where many people congregated in the evening: restaurants, bars, entertainment districts. True, Wanda had never frequented such things before, but her lifestyle now might be much changed from what it had been before.

That's when he saw what looked like a glowing red fountain on a rooftop to the south. The specific shade of red was one that he knew well.

It was her. There was no other explanation. He flew toward it as fast as he could. He circled around the building and spotted her, the scarlet glow around her hands mirroring the fountain of snow. The moment she saw him the glow vanished, the snow drifted away in a white poof on the wind.

He landed in front of her, and for a long moment they just stared at each other.

"Vision," she whispered.

"Wanda. I hope I didn't startle you."

"No." She took half a step closer to him, then stopped. "I heard you were here. I figured you were looking for me."

"Yes," he admitted.

"I saw the smoke while I was walking to work this morning. I knew it was a risk, but I couldn't just do nothing."

"Because you're an Avenger." He wanted to close the distance between them, to touch her, reassure her. But he didn't dare.

She spoke again. "Did they send you to take me back?"

"We both know I couldn't, even if I were willing to."

"Then why are you here?" She asked the question quietly and carefully, her tone almost plaintive.

"Because I wanted to see you, for my own peace of mind. Read me if you don't believe me."

she walked up to him slowly. She wasn't looking into his mind, but into his eyes. Then she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest.

"Vision, I've missed you so much."

He placed one hand carefully on her back. "I've missed you too. I've missed you terribly."

She closed her eyes. He could feel her breath in the rise and fall of her chest against him. He could feel her heartbeat. Almost involuntarily he pulled her closer and stroked her hair.

"Wanda, I hope you can forgive me."

"For what?"

"I never thought you would be imprisoned. I should not have let it happen."

"There was nothing you could have done."

"I could have let you escape."

"They just would have locked you up too."

Vision wasn't sure that was true. Or possible. But he felt it didn't matter anymore. He drew back from their long embrace to look at her. "If you were afraid I would attempt to apprehend you, or that I might not be alone in looking for you, it was an incredible risk to use your power to draw my attention."

"I felt like it was the only chance I had to see you," she said.

He gingerly reached up to touch her cheek. "Thank you."

Her cheek was cold. The night was cold, well below freezing.

"Perhaps we should continue this conversation indoors?" he suggested.

"Yes." She shook her head as if coming out of a daze. "My apartment isn't far from here. It should be safe to go back there." She looked him over, biting her lip thoughtfully. "I think walking there will draw attention. Would you mind giving me a lift?"

Though he didn't actually have a heart, he felt his metaphorical heart leap at the suggestion.

* * *

They didn't speak much as they flew over the city lights, Wanda cradled in Vision's arms, her arms looped loosely around his neck.

"That building. My apartment is the one with the red curtain."

Vision landed on her balcony and set her down. Her legs felt unsteady. She clung to him to keep from stumbling, and because she didn't want their physical closeness to end.

"Thank you," she said.

"It was my pleasure."

She turned and unlocked the door with a wave of her hand, then slid it open.

"Come on in," she said when Vision showed hesitance to follow her.

Her apartment was small, spartan, dilapidated, not at all welcoming. When one was on the run, moving from place to place every few months, it was difficult to make a place feel like home. That had never bothered her like it did now. Did Vision mind?

She looked at him. "I know it's not much. Just a place to stay for a while. I guess I've never really had anything else. Not since my parents." She bit her lip, not really wanting to go there right now. They had so much else to talk about. "Vision, about what happened at the compound..."

"It's nothing."

"I should never have turned my power against you. It was wrong."

"You didn't harm me," he said.

"But I could have. I feel terrible about it."

"Perhaps we should call it even. We needn't discuss it further."

After a moment, she nodded. "Okay." She turned away, looking around her apartment again. "Now that I've exposed myself here, the protocol is that I should leave as soon as possible, move on to the next safe house."

He glided next to her, concern and maybe a hint of panic in his eyes. "I couldn't have found you without your aid. I don't believe you need fear anyone else will."

"Vision, if I leave, I'd tell you where I was going. I might even ask you to help me move. Flying over the border would make me pretty hard to track."

"I'd be happy to," he said.

He lightly brushed her hand with his fingertips. Her pulse quickened.

 _And what do you want?_

She'd asked him that once, back at the compound. His hand had been on her arm, his eyes gazing into hers. She'd half expected him to kiss her then. She'd been disappointed when he hadn't. Did he want her the way she wanted him? Could he? Or was this a result of human hormones he didn't share? Maybe he didn't know either. There had never been anyone like him; maybe he was still figuring out the details of his own existence.

She slipped her hand into his. Her other hand rose to stroke his face.

 _Confusion. Fear. Fear of endangering her, fear of being rejected by her. Yearning. Inexpressable love._

"You're reading me," he said.

"I'm sorry. I had to know. I had to make sure you feel the same way."

His emotions added to hers were overwhelming. She moved closer to him. He met her lips with his.

This was his first kiss. She sensed his nervousness, his uncertainty, and felt it evaporate away as the thrill and pleasure of it flooded through them both. It was a simple kiss, close-lipped, undemanding, but it froze them in place like statues, neither wanting to end it.

It was not Wanda's first kiss, but no one she'd ever been with before had affected her like this. His skin was smooth, smoother than a human's. His flesh was hard, more like metal than muscle. None of which she minded.

Wanda drew back from the kiss when her legs started getting tired; without thinking about it, she'd gone up on her tiptoes to reach him. They were still holding hands, and didn't let go as they looked at each other, processing what had just happened.

"That felt good," Vision said.

"Yeah," she agreed with a breathy laugh. She gave his hand a squeeze. "Like I said, I'm not going anywhere where you can't find me. I wouldn't do that to you, or to myself. But I think maybe I should leave for the next safe house tonight."

"Why so soon?"

"With Tony's technology, it's only a matter of time before he finds me."

"You don't need to worry about that," Vision said. "Even if he did locate you, he would't come for you. He doesn't want you arrested either."

"How do you know that?"

"Because he sent me. He knows I would never intentionally do anything to harm you."

She looked at him thoughtfully for a long moment. "I'm not sure I trust Tony, but I do trust you. If you think I'm still safe here, I'll stay."

It was well after midnight by the time Vision bid her goodbye after catching her in a yawn she couldn't stifle. She asked him to stay a little bit longer, but relented after realizing he should go before her neighbors woke up, to reduce the risk of someone seeing him.

She walked him to the door of her balcony. He turned to her.

"When might I see you again?" he asked.

"Can you come Friday night?"

"I will try. If I can't make it..."

"I'll assume you're busy saving the world. If you do come Friday and I'm not here, it is probably because I had to flee. If that happens, look for me in Zurich."

He nodded. She'd told him the next address on her memorized list of safe houses, even though Steve and Natasha had instructed her to never say it out loud or write it down. The uncertainty of their lives was too great.

She kissed him goodbye, and watched as he moved through the glass door and flew away, watched until he disappeared in the snowy night.

* * *

"Any luck in Germany?" Tony asked Vision when he saw him the next day.

"Not exactly," he replied. He didn't want to lie to Tony. Wanda signaling him from the rooftop wasn't exactly luck, it was her cleverness.

"That's not surprising. Wanda knows how to survive on the streets, she knows three languages that I know of, and she can get into people's heads. I don't think you could have found her unless she wanted to be found."

"I think that's true," Vision said carefully.

"Well," Tony patted Vision's shoulder, "maybe you'll get lucky next time."

He walked away, leaving Vision to wonder if that had been a deliberate double-entendre.


	4. Signal Red

Chapter 4: Signal Red

In the dark of the early winter night in northern Europe, Vision alighted on Wanda's balcony. He had been worried that he'd been wrong, that she had been more exposed than he thought, that she wouldn't still be there when he returned. But there she was, sitting at her coffee table. He wondered if he should knock on the glass or just enter. Before he could decide she noticed him, stood, and gestured for him to come inside.

She was wearing a simple red dress. The color suited her well.

"Hello, Viz. Thanks for coming."

"Hello, Wanda. You look very elegant."

She chuckled. "'Elegant' wasn't quite what I was going for, but I'll take it."

He walked up to her and placed his hands lightly on her bare arms. "Honestly, you look exquisite." For a moment he just watched her, trying to read her reaction to his words, his touch, his nearness. The quickness of her breath, the dilation of her pupils, the slight parting of her lips. "May I kiss you?" he whispered.

"Yes please."

He dipped his head and touched his lips to hers. He tried to show restraint, to conceal how much he longed for her, but he didn't entirely succeed.

She returned the kiss with less restraint. Her hand went to the back of his neck to pull him deeper.

The kiss lasted for a long moment. She was the first to pull away, looking suddenly shy. Was she blushing?

"What did Tony say when you returned without me?" she asked.

"As I expected, he didn't press the matter. I don't know how much he suspects, but we have nothing to fear from him."

"Good." She drifted into her kitchen. "I was thinking about what we could do tonight. We could play chess, or listen to music, or watch movies. Whatever you would like." She returned with a bottle of red wine and a glass. "I know you don't drink, but do you mind if I do?"

"Of course not."

As she poured, he noticed her hands were shaking.

"You're nervous," he observed.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Well, why are you nervous?" she asked back.

He knew it would be useless to lie to her, even to save himself embarrassment, so he answered honestly. "Because this is entirely new for me. I'm worried about making a misstep, or causing a misunderstanding."

"Exactly," she said, and took a sip of her wine.

"Why would you be nervous about that? You can read me."

"That just makes it worse. When I do or say something that offends someone, I know it. And even being able to look into people's minds offends them. People find it an invasion of their privacy. Most people wouldn't...date...someone who can do that."

Date. That's what this was. Their first date. But if spending time together in an apartment was sufficient for a date, he reflected, maybe it wasn't their first.

"I have nothing I would wish to hide from you," he said.

"Yet. That won't always be true." She held up her glass, studying the deep purple-red color of the wine. "You know my control of my powers is not perfect, but I promise I'll try not to read you without your permission."

"In that case, let's play chess."

She stared at him for a moment, then her face broke into a smile. "Did you just make a joke?"

"I was hoping that would come across as amusing, but it was also a sincere proposal. I have missed our games."

"If I can't read you, I'll have no chance of winning," she said.

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that."

"I guess we'll see." She put down her wine glass and started setting up the chess set on the coffee table.


	5. Where There's Smoke

Chapter 5: Where There's Smoke

"Let's hear it for the Vision!" Rhodes cried.

The others in the room cheered.

This was not what Vision had expected or wanted this debriefing with the UN Avengers Oversight Committee to turn into. He wasn't accustomed to being the center of attention, the hero of the day. All he wanted was a good excuse to exit the room immediately.

"Do you have any more questions?" Vision asked the panel.

They looked at each other. "It doesn't look like it. You handled the crisis exceptionally well. You have the world's thanks."

"If it's all the same, I would like to get some rest," Vision said.

Some members of the committee looked surprised. Rhodes looked shocked. Tony didn't.

"Of course. Once again, you have our gratitude."

Vision left the conference room, contemplating the best route through the Avengers compound to avoid reporters.

Tony caught up with him in the hall. "You're tired? That's the best out you could come up with?"

"That was...very awkward for me. Usually it is you or Colonel Rhodes who handles the questions."

"It's about time that changed. None of us could have done what you did," Tony said.

"Literally true. I don't believe I deserve accolades for it."

"But you do. And I don't mean just phasing into a passenger jet at cruising speed; you talked two Ten Ring terrorists armed with vest bombs into surrendering. None of us could have done that. I don't think anyone but you would have even tried."

"If you were paying attention during that debriefing, you'd know that's not a completely accurate portrayal of how it happened."

"It's close enough. The fact is, the two hijackers are alive, and more importantly so are all the passengers. This is a good thing. It's good to have the world see you saving the day. You're the most valuable member of this team, and it's about time people realize that."

"You told the world that you were Iron Man. It was in your nature to desire that recognition. What I desire is the opposite. To walk down a street without being recognized, without anyone looking twice...I can't even imagine what that would be like."

"People just need to get used to you. You should get out more. There's this nice club I know of where the staff is so used to celebrities they don't even blink. We should go there sometime, maybe a double date."

"A double date?"

"Yeah. Me and Pepper, and you and...whoever it is you sneak off to visit every Friday."

He knew.

Tony smiled at his stunned expression. "I can do the math. I know about when it started."

Vision spoke in a low voice, meant for Tony alone. "Mr. Stark, I hope you know I would never wish to lie to you, or conceal anything from you, and if I did it was not from distrust of you, but a desire to protect you from possible repurcussions."

"Don't worry about it. I'm happy for you. For both of you. Speaking of which, you should get going."

* * *

Vision was later than usual to get to Wanda's apartment. She was sitting at her coffee table, wearing the red dress he loved, holding a mug of tea. Her face lit up when she saw him.

"Vision!" She rose and kissed him. "I wasn't sure you'd be coming tonight. I heard about Flight 422 on the news."

"That is why I'm late. I'm sorry to keep you waiting."

"I can't blame you. You talked two armed hijackers into surrendering peacefully."

"No," he corrected her. "I physically restrained one, and convinced the other that if he reached for the detonator of his explosive device I would kill him before he could touch it, he would be remembered as a failed terrorist rather than a martyr, and his cause would be better served by spreading his message from a prison cell. Fortunately, it worked."

Her eyes wandered over his face for a moment. "I'm sorry. That must have been terrifying for you."

The word struck him like a revelation. "Yes. I was terrified. I feel that...no one else understands that."

"Because you weren't in physical danger. Even if the bombs had blown up the plane, you would have survived. But others wouldn't have."

"Yes." He blinked, haunted by the memory of his fear on that plane. "If I had made a single miscalculation, people would have died. And I had to do it alone."

She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him to sit next to her on the coffee table as she cradled his head in the crook of her neck. "But you did it. Everyone's safe now. It's okay."

He closed his eyes. He felt a warmth spread from her through his body, easing away the lingering trauma of that rescue mission. No one understood him like she did. Had she looked into his mind to know how that mission had affected him, or had she figured it out from what she knew of him? He hadn't felt her reading him.

She pressed her lips to the top of his head.

Perhaps that gesture was merely meant to comfort him, but it conveyed far more. She didn't see him as a robot; she saw him as human: fallible, vulnerable, someone who could _be_ terrified, someone who occasionally needed comfort.

Suddenly it wasn't just the warmth of her arms he wanted, but the fire of her lips. He shifted to look into her eyes.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"You're welcome," she replied, sounding like she wasn't sure what he was thanking her for.

He kissed her passionately, hungrily. She responded in kind. After a few minutes, she kissed her way along his cheek to his neck, then paused to ask, "Would you like to come to bed?"

He breathed the only word he could think at the moment. "Yes."


	6. Sunshower

Chapter 6 : Sunshower

"I haven't finished unpacking," Wanda explained to Steve, who was looking at the cardboard box in the middle of her living room floor in her new apartment in Zurich.

"So how do you like it here so far?" Steve asked.

"It's nice. I like it. Your beard's coming in nice."

He rubbed his beard absently. "Thanks."

"What's going on, Steve?" She finally just asked. Not that it was unusual for him to drop by to check on her every month or so, but today he was not acting normally. He usually talked to her more openly, asking her specific questions about work, transportation, even grocery shopping. He was distracted by something today.

"Natasha contacted me. There are rumors that someone is selling Chitauri tech to rebel groups in the Middle East."

"What are you going to do?" Wanda asked.

"We're going to find the weapons and destroy them. We could use your help."

"How long do you think it will take?"

"A few months. It won't be easy."

Wanda was gripped by a moment of panic. "No!"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong. I just can't be gone that long." She imagined how Vision would feel, showing up at the apartment and finding her gone. Even if she left a note, there would be no way of telling him where he could find her.

"Why not?" Steve asked. He didn't sound angry, just curious.

"My boyfriend. I couldn't stand to be away from him for that long."

This time both of his eyebrows shot up. "You have a boyfriend?"

"Yes. Why is that so surprising?"

"It's not. I'm happy for you. But...does he know who you are?"

She hesitated for just a moment before stating, "He's Vision."

"Vision." He didn't sound exactly surprised.

"Yes. We've been seeing each other for months. Don't worry about him turning me in. He won't, because he loves me. And don't ask me to stop seeing him, because I won't. I love him."

"I would't ask you to," he said wistfully. "No, I think this is a good thing. Someday there will be a crisis so big that the world will need the Avengers again, all of us. And when that day comes, it will be good to have a bridge between the two sides. You and Vision can be that bridge."

She smiled. She liked that idea, and she was happy to have Steve's approval. And thrilled to tell someone Vision was her boyfriend. She'd talked about her boyfriend with coworkers before, but never said his name. No one had known who he was. She felt oddly proud. Proud that Vision, a being of such power, such intelligence, such pure goodness, had fallen in love with _her_ , of all people. Saying Vision was her boyfriend felt unexpectedly like bragging.

"Thank you for understanding," she said. "I'm sorry I can't go with you."

"I know what it's like to be in love," he said. "I think you're exactly where you need to be."

* * *

It was a rainy spring morning. Wanda and Vision were sitting at her table. She had a plate of French toast and a cup of coffee in front of her.

"Thank you for breakfast, Vision. This is delicious."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it."

Whenever he said 'you're welcome,' she always felt like he truly meant it on a literal level. He didn't do things for her because he expected anything in return, or even in an attempt to endear himself to her. He did them because he loved her, and he wanted kind things to happen to her. It was selfless. She wasn't sure if her love for him was so selfless. While she would do anything for him, valued his happiness above her own, and would unhesitantly give her life to save him, the happiness she felt from just being with him certainly felt selfish.

"Wanda," he asked her hesitantly, "would you be honest with me even if it were something you thought I wouldn't like to hear?"

"Yes," she said. She'd considered the question before, and decided it was only fair.

"Do you ever wish I were human?"

"No."

"You don't ever wish we could...go out? Go to a café together, walk through a park, go on a normal date."

She reached across the table and took his hand. "I would love to go out with you. And we could do all those things, if I wasn't a wanted fugitive. When I'm by myself, people don't look too close, but if we were seen together I'd be recognized, and you would face the consequences. Whatever we're missing out on by not being able to go out in public together is because of me, because of the things I've done. It's not because you're not human. I love you. I love you as you are, and anything I have to give up to be with you is a price I'm willing to pay."

It was the first time she'd said those words to him, and she could feel without even trying how deeply they touched him.

She smiled at him, kissed his hand, and returned to her breakfast.

"I'm sure you're already aware of this without my telling you, but I love you too."

"Yes. But it's still good to hear." They sat in silece for a few moments, then Wanda asked a question she'd been wondering for a long time. "Vision, when did it begin for you? When did you first start developing feelings for me?"

"I'm not sure. I had feelings for you for a long time before I recognized them for what they were. To be honest...I don't think they entirely began with me."

She was about to ask what he meant, but realized she knew. "Ultron."

"He cared for you deeply. He admired you. I believe that when he designed me, he had in mind not just a form in which to deliver his message to the world. I think he also hoped that this body would allow him to be closer to you. I don't know if the beginnings of my own affection for you is something I inherited from him, or if it's simply the fact that he and I share a base consciousness, that we were both attracted to the same attributes in you: your intensity, your grace, your devotion."

She looked down. She remembered how she had felt toward Ultron before she learned what he was really planning. It felt like they were a team, she and Pietro and Ultron. She had been proud of her part in bringing into existence a being of such power, intelligence, and...vision. She understood loneliness better now, and looking back she recognized that even though she had Pietro, she had still been lonely, hungry for companionship beyond her brother, and that loneliness had drawn her to Ultron, as his had drawn him to her. She remembered how excited she'd been to see Ultron's final, perfect form, how she had gazed into the cradle, amazed by the shape it was taking. When she'd seen the truth, she'd felt betrayed beyond a violation of trust. She had been misled and used by someone she cared about.

"I'm sorry, I didn't wish to distress you. Please don't misunderstand; whatever feelings for you I shared with Ultron, that was only a seed. It took getting to know you, serving beside you, for that seed to grow into love. My regard for you now is entirely my own, entirely separate from what Ultron felt." He was floundering, panicking. He'd misinterpreted her contemplative silence. He was terrified he would lose her because of this revelation; she could see that in his face without even glancing into his head.

She understood that fear. She was worried about the same thing for what she was about to tell him.

" _You_ don't distress me, Vision. I do. The thing is, it would have worked. If I hadn't learned what Ultron was planning, if the Avengers hadn't stolen the cradle, if Ultron had gotten your body, he would have held the world hostage, and I would have been right beside him. I'm not like you. I'm not pure good." She looked at her hands. They were shaking. "I'm capable of terrible things. Ultron knew that. And if he had come to me in your form...I would have..."

He phased through the table and knelt in front of her. He took her hands, steadying her. "It doesn't matter. Wanda, it's alright. It doesn't matter what you might have been. I know what you _are._ It doesn't matter what you did or what you're capable of doing, only what you _do._ When you saw what Ultron was planning, you turned against him. You joined forces with people you had believed to be your enemies in order to stop him."

"To stop _you_ ," she said. "I tried to stop you from being born, to prevent your existence."

He reached up to her cheek, wiping away a tear with his thumb. "Because you thought I would be Ultron. Ultron's final, possibly unstoppable self."

"When I saw you come out of the cradle, I thought we were dead. I thought you would kill us all."

"Even if it had been Ultron who came out, you would have stopped him. You have that power."

"I didn't know I had power over you then."

"But you did. And more importantly, you had power over Ultron. He wouldn't have killed _you_ , and that would have given you time to learn how to destroy him."

She closed her eyes. He continued stroking her cheek.

 _If you stay here, you'll die._ Those had been Ultron's last words to her, right before she killed that form of him.

"When the city began to fall, after Pietro died," she said, not opening her eyes, "I thought I was going to die. I was sure of it. The ground fell from below me, and I couldn't think. All I could feel, all that was inside me, was that I was about to die. And then I felt your arms around me. You had every reason to hate me, and no reason to save me, but you did. The day after I tried to prevent your life, you saved mine." She opened her eyes to him. "That was what planted the seed for me."

He looked confused. "I had the ability to save you, so I made the attempt. Even if I had held your attempt to stop my birth against you, I would not have let you die."

"I know. Because that's the kind of man you are. That's why I love you."

* * *

The café was at the corner of the street leading to Wanda's apartment. He sat at an outside table, holding a cup of tea he occasionally pretended to sip as he watched people pass by. No one looked at him twice.

He had been there for almost two hours when he saw her approaching. He recognized her by her movement well before she came close enough for him to distinguish her features. She was dressed in a dark gray jacket and bluejeans, her hair was braided, a look designed to not draw too much attention.

His skin seemed to tingle at the sight of her.

As she passed the café, she slowed her step and glanced up at the building, frowning. She glanced over the few patrons sitting outside in the late afternoon sunlight. Her eyes alighted on him for a moment, but moved on without recognition. She looked up at the rooftop, shook her head to herself, and continued on.

He rose to follow her, jogging a few steps to catch up to her. "Hello, Wanda."

She spun around, then froze, her eyes wide.

"Viz..."

"I've been practicing." Since he had always been able to alter his appearance by shifting his vibranium-tissue matrix to approximate clothes, he'd hoped he could eventually master it enough to simulate hair and human skin. He didn't add that mastering this look had entailed occasionally painful sessions of Dr. Cho blasting experimental pigment capsules into his skin to achieve a more or less natural-looking color. He'd insisted on going through with it, claiming being able to pass as human would help him be a more effective Avenger. There had been several missions in the past that he hadn't gone on because his presence would attract too much attention. He suspected that Tony knew the true reason.

"You look different."

"I wanted to surprise you."

"You succeeded."

He walked up to her. "What do you think?"

She slowly touched his cheek. "You feel the same." She moved her hand up to the hat pulled low over his forehead. "You can't hide your glow."

"No. My disguise won't bear much scrutiny, I'm afraid."

"Is it permanent?"

"No, but it takes me some time in front of a mirror to reestablish it. Do you like it?"

She smiled at the worry in his voice and patted his cheek. "I'll get used to it."

He took her hand and brought it to his lips.

After a moment, her smile turned into a smirk.

"What's funny?" he asked.

"You're like a cuttlefish."

"How so?"

"Cuttlefish can change the color and texture of their skin. They're not really fish; they're more like a squid."

"Yes. They are cephalopods."

"The person who first told me about cuttlefish said he was afraid of them, but when I really learned about them, I realized how incredible they are. They change their skin to dazzle their prey, talk to each other, and blend in with wherever they are. They're very intelligent. Like you." She rested her wrists on his shoulders, lightly linking her fingers behind his neck. "People can be afraid of things that are different. Usually they just need to take the time to understand them."

"You're saying you understand me, and so you don't fear me?"

She chuckled. "I was actually meaning cuttlefish. But yes, you too." She gazed at him. "I understand why you...changed your look. I need you to understand it doesn't change how I feel about you. At all."

He was tempted for a moment to suggest they go back to her apartment, even though that was opposed to what he'd planned for the evening. Instead he contented himself with kissing her, lightly and briefly. When he drew back, he was pleased to see the desire in her eyes. He was glad she didn't find his human disguise off-putting.

A middle-aged woman passing on the sidewalk gave them a knowing smile. It reminded him they were in a public place.

"Wanda, I would like to take you to dinner," he said.

"It's a little early for dinner. Let's take a walk. There are some nice streets between here and the lake."

"That sounds delightful," he said sincerely.

"And maybe after dinner we can go dancing," she suggested.

This might, Vision thought, prove to be his favorite day in his life so far.

And then Wanda said, "And tomorrow maybe we can check out some museums."


	7. Welcome-Home Lights

Chapter 7: Welcome-Home Lights

They sat on a bench in Park Zürichhorn, watching the sun set over the lake. Wanda was resting her head on Vision's shoulder. The clouds were dark gray brushed with trailing wisps of coral and rose.

They had spent the day wandering the city, shopping, strolling through gardens. She loved feeling his simple pleasure in being among people, watching them go through their daily routines. She'd long considered herself a bit of a misanthrope, but seeing humanity through his eyes had changed that.

It had been six months since Vision had found her on that snowy rooftop. Those months had been, if not the happiest of her life, happier than she'd thought she ever could be again.

It couldn't possibly last.

That stray thought caused her to involuntarily grasp his shirt where her hand had been resting on his chest.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing."

He turned toward her. "It isn't nothing. Something upset you."

"I was just thinking...with our lives, with our missions...how long until this gets taken away from us?" Before he could reply, she added, "I know. I know there's no answer to that, and it's foolish to worry about it. I just... If I lost you, like I lost Pietro and our parents, I don't know how I would handle it. I don't know if I could bear it."

"That is not foolish. I think about the same thing. One way or another, our time together will one day come to an end." He brushed a stray strand of hair back from her face, gazing at her. "But a thing is not beautiful because it lasts. Even if I outlive you, the happiness I've had from being with you will always be part of my life. You will always be part of my universe. All we can do now is treasure the time we have together while we can."

She smiled. "You're right." Deciding to act on his advice, she placed a tender, lingering kiss on his lips, then returned her head to his shoulder and her eyes to the fading sky.


End file.
